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iTunes Movie Rentals to be Announced at WWDC?

Think Secret claims that Steve Jobs will announce the addition of a movie rental service to the iTunes Music Store during his keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference on August 7.

MacRumors reported last month that movie studios had mixed feelings about Steve Jobs, some regarding him as a friend and some as a foe, and Think Secret's report indicates that the studios have won this negotiation round, limiting movies to rentals instead of outright purchases, with playback limited either by number of viewings or by an expiration date.

Deals with Walt Disney Studios, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Brothers Pictures are said to be complete, with others in progress.

Apple's decision to implement a rental model for movies is a major departure for the company and Mr. Jobs. Apple had been trying for months to persuade the movie studios that the a-la-carte model of buying individual titles, as the iTunes Music Store offers with music, was the way to go. The studios, however, has been fixed on offering only a subscription or rental-based model.

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73 months ago
Good news and bad news. Movies good, rental bad if not offered with sale. However, if rentals are cheap, I'd probably just as soon rent so i could buy the physical disc which would be much higher quality anyway.
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73 months ago
Well about time :eek:

i was starting to think this was not coming at all
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73 months ago
If I'm going to spend all that time downloading a movie, I should at least be able to keep it. Bah.
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73 months ago
I'm sufficiently excited. Here's hoping for higher quality (than the current TV shows) and Netflix-esque pricing.

Start "TS isn't accurate/only for the US" whining in 3, 2, 1…

If I'm going to spend all that time downloading a movie, I should at least be able to keep it. Bah.


You've never streamed a Quicktime movie? You don't have to wait for it to end before you start watching it, unless of course you were going to watch it on an iPod…
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73 months ago
Lets see how they make this happen, movies are big downloads (or so im told :p ;) ) people wont like spending a lot of time downloading a file only for it to become completely useless a while later. But if it increases the content in the iTMS then so be it!
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73 months ago

If I'm going to spend all that time downloading a movie, I should at least be able to keep it. Bah.

I'd rather them just be streamed if it is indeed going to be rentals.
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73 months ago

I'm sufficiently excited. Here's hoping for higher quality (than the current TV shows) and Netflix-esque pricing.

Start "TS isn't accurate/only for the US" whining in 3, 2, 1…


I was trying to avoid the whining, but now that you bring it up... when is apple going to bring the video content to other coutries?
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73 months ago
I wouldn't rule out downloading a movie, even for limited use, but the price would have to make it worthwhile. It'll have to compete with Netflix, my local video rental store, cable TV, and going to the movie theater. A tough market but a good population of potential customers.
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73 months ago
Yeah, if it's $9.99 to rent, it's going to fail. $1.99, might be worth it. I'm sure a lot of people will be happy, then a lot of people will complain. Both with have good points, but the rest of us won't care.
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73 months ago
Does this mean a new Video Ipod will be releaed also at the WWDC??
and if the rumors are true about the mac pro being announced also, that's alot of new goodies from Steve.
I don't like the rental model, it could find it's way into the music downloads. A $9.99 movie download at good quailty would be realy attractive. (too own)
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